Friday, February 14, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Busy Busy Busy
As the title suggests, this new job has kept me quite busy. A blast it has been! I have had the opportunity to have DIBELS training, lead meetings and discussion for Title I needs, and next week I will begin official training for the reading program called Reading Mastery.
I have only had this position for about 4 months, but I can still look back and see growth in my self as a professional and as a teacher.
The hardest part about being a Title I teacher is the constant changing of students. Reading groups do need to be fluid so students can be adequately challenged, and so growth can be achieved. This is still the most challenging part of the job for me. I work with the intensive and strategic students, so I am always very excited and proud when one of my students is able to move up to benchmark, but at the same rate that sliver of sadness creeps up; reminiscent of the end of the school year.
I do get new students every once in awhile. This is an adventure; it always adds a new personality to the group which can throw things off, or keep them going on the right track. I remind myself not to get too attached to one form of classroom management because I know it may not work forever.
Luckily the classroom teachers I work with are wonderful! They are usually up for any strange management plan I think up, and do anything to help me with it. I have recently started (with my older kids) a chart that allows students to get up to 4 points a day, 1 point for participation, 1 point for being prepared, 1 point for being respectful, and 1 point for following along during choral reading. The classroom teachers offered to give extra computer time to students who get 4's at the end of the day, and boy, let me tell you, that incentive has helped even my most stubborn students stay on track, and stay focused.
My younger kiddos are still using the clipchart along with a sticker chart and pretzels for rewards. This system is still going strong, so I don't plan on changing it until it is broke.
I have only had this position for about 4 months, but I can still look back and see growth in my self as a professional and as a teacher.
The hardest part about being a Title I teacher is the constant changing of students. Reading groups do need to be fluid so students can be adequately challenged, and so growth can be achieved. This is still the most challenging part of the job for me. I work with the intensive and strategic students, so I am always very excited and proud when one of my students is able to move up to benchmark, but at the same rate that sliver of sadness creeps up; reminiscent of the end of the school year.
I do get new students every once in awhile. This is an adventure; it always adds a new personality to the group which can throw things off, or keep them going on the right track. I remind myself not to get too attached to one form of classroom management because I know it may not work forever.
Luckily the classroom teachers I work with are wonderful! They are usually up for any strange management plan I think up, and do anything to help me with it. I have recently started (with my older kids) a chart that allows students to get up to 4 points a day, 1 point for participation, 1 point for being prepared, 1 point for being respectful, and 1 point for following along during choral reading. The classroom teachers offered to give extra computer time to students who get 4's at the end of the day, and boy, let me tell you, that incentive has helped even my most stubborn students stay on track, and stay focused.
My younger kiddos are still using the clipchart along with a sticker chart and pretzels for rewards. This system is still going strong, so I don't plan on changing it until it is broke.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Popcorn Words
I use this activity as independent work while I do weekly assessments with my first graders. I did it for the first time last week, and my kids were engaged and worked quietly the whole time!
I put our sight words and other words that we had been working on for the week at the bottom of the graph. I created some "popcorn" by writing words on yellow and orange pieces of paper.
The fun popcorn buckets can be found at the dollar store. I put extra words in the "popcorn" so students pick one word, they read it and if it matches a word on their graph then they can color in a square above that word. I plan on changing the words each week.
Hope you enjoyed this! Happy teaching!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Beginning of the Adventure
I was recently plopped down into a new teaching job. The only experience I had was student teaching, and about a year of substitute teaching throughout the city. So this was definitely a "culture shock" for me.
It was about two weeks into the school year and I was settled into a kindergarten para-educator job that lasted for about one more week. Out of the blue, another school called me on a Sunday evening and asked if I could start a Title I Reading position that would last until December break, and possibly the rest of the school year. My first thought was "Hell yeah! A long-term position!" But then the anxiety started to sink in; I will have a real job with real responsibilities! I don't know any thing about Title I! Would if another job comes up and I don't have the guts to quite?!....
Luckily I had about an hour to really weigh the pros and cons before my casual interview at the nearest Starbucks. In the end, the pros outweighed the cons. This was not my dream job, but I like to think of it as a stepping stone towards my dream job. It has provided me with a wealth of experience, professional contacts, and new knowledge.
The first few days on the job were a bit of a whirl-wind, I felt like I was constantly treading water, and I only had my head above the water a few times. I do have to admit that I was not very content at the end of my day, but as time went on I was able to get into some what of a routine. I was able to enjoy my job and feel more comfortable in what I was doing.
I have been at this job for about 1 month today. I feel very confident with what I am doing. I have a skeleton of a routine which is getting more and more meat on it at time goes on.
I am having a blast with my kids. I work with first, second, third, and fourth graders. For those of you not familiar with Title I, it is a program implemented at schools with a high percentage of low-income students. This program provides reading enrichment for students who need it, not necessarily low income students.
As with every job, there are colleagues you mesh with and colleagues that you seem to clash with; I am experiencing both. I remind myself that each day, and each experience is just more knowledge and experience that I can put under my belt and use to help me in the future.
Stay tuned for posts about activities I have discovered/created, mistakes I have learned from, and accomplishments I have made while I continue this new job experience.
It was about two weeks into the school year and I was settled into a kindergarten para-educator job that lasted for about one more week. Out of the blue, another school called me on a Sunday evening and asked if I could start a Title I Reading position that would last until December break, and possibly the rest of the school year. My first thought was "Hell yeah! A long-term position!" But then the anxiety started to sink in; I will have a real job with real responsibilities! I don't know any thing about Title I! Would if another job comes up and I don't have the guts to quite?!....
Luckily I had about an hour to really weigh the pros and cons before my casual interview at the nearest Starbucks. In the end, the pros outweighed the cons. This was not my dream job, but I like to think of it as a stepping stone towards my dream job. It has provided me with a wealth of experience, professional contacts, and new knowledge.
The first few days on the job were a bit of a whirl-wind, I felt like I was constantly treading water, and I only had my head above the water a few times. I do have to admit that I was not very content at the end of my day, but as time went on I was able to get into some what of a routine. I was able to enjoy my job and feel more comfortable in what I was doing.
I have been at this job for about 1 month today. I feel very confident with what I am doing. I have a skeleton of a routine which is getting more and more meat on it at time goes on.
I am having a blast with my kids. I work with first, second, third, and fourth graders. For those of you not familiar with Title I, it is a program implemented at schools with a high percentage of low-income students. This program provides reading enrichment for students who need it, not necessarily low income students.
As with every job, there are colleagues you mesh with and colleagues that you seem to clash with; I am experiencing both. I remind myself that each day, and each experience is just more knowledge and experience that I can put under my belt and use to help me in the future.
Stay tuned for posts about activities I have discovered/created, mistakes I have learned from, and accomplishments I have made while I continue this new job experience.
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